Karen Mills will demonstrate Chinese watercolor at the Jan 18 meeting of the Santa Clarita Artists Association (SCAA). This event is free, open to the public and meets at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 23630 Valencia Blvd.

Mills’ topic will be Chinese Spontaneous painting techniques using watercolors on rice paper. The Chinese Spontaneous style of painting is very different from Western watercolor techniques and hopefully sufficiently interesting for those curious to look at another way of painting with watercolors. There is no need to sketch or draw in advance, the objective is to express the essence of the subject.

"Even though this style of painting has traditionally been known to be very difficult, I have developed a way to teach this to adult beginners where they can have fun and paint a beautiful flower in one hour," said Mills. "This style of painting requires letting go of control... which in itself can be scary for most people, however the benefits can be therapeutic as it has been for me." You can view her art on www.ricepaperart.com.

SCAA welcomes the public to see this demonstration. Come early, standing room only by 6:30. See www.SantaClaritaArtists.org.